The present invention relates generally to medical devices and more particularly to devices having utility in clinical applications for fat transfer.
Fat transfer, alternately termed fat grafting, is an autologous process comprising two or more procedures or sub-processes performed in series. Fat transfer processes are typically initiated with a fat harvesting procedure, optionally followed by one or more fat conditioning procedures and concluded with a fat re-injection procedure.
Fat harvesting procedures all entail removing and recovering fat, more specifically characterized as native adipose material, from the hypodermis of a patient. The hypodermis is the subdermal or subcutaneous innermost layer of the skin which is one of the primary sites on the body where fat is produced and stored. As such, the native adipose material recovered from the hypodermis appears as an amalgam of loose connective tissue and fat lobules. On a more microscopic level, the native adipose material recovered from the hypodermis is characterized as an adipose tissue complex which is a diverse heterogeneous mixture including inter alia adipocytes, precursor adipocytes, stromal cells, stem cells, macrophages, free lipids dissociated from ruptured adipocytes, perivascular matrix, extracellular matrix and native scaffolding. Preferred harvesting sites on the body include the fatty lower layer of skin on the thighs or stomach of the patient. Fat harvesting is performed in accordance with any number of well-known techniques including liposuction or lipoplasty.
Among the optional fat conditioning procedures are centrifugation, filtration, decantation and washing of the harvested fat. Fat re-injection procedures all entail re-injecting at least a portion of the harvested fat, which has optionally been conditioned by one or more fat conditioning procedures such as those listed above, into an injection site on the body of the same patient. The injection site is different than the harvesting site, although the precise location on the body of the injection site depends on the particular clinical application for the fat transfer process. For example, potential injection sites in cosmetic applications for fat transfer include the skin of the face, breasts, cheeks, lips, buttocks, and/or chin. The re-injected fat acts as a superficial filler in cosmetic applications to desirably increase volume at the injection site and enhance the appearance of the patient. Alternate injection sites may be selected for other clinical fat transfer applications, such as for skin anti-aging, hair regeneration, restoration of sun/radiation damaged skin, restoration of abnormally scarred skin, healing of chronic flesh wounds and treatment of many musculoskeletal disorders.
A fat transfer syringe is generally the tool of choice for performing fat harvesting procedures and/or fat re-injection procedures. However, an ongoing need is recognized herein for structure that cooperatively supplements a conventional fat transfer syringe and enhances its performance and/or its ease of use as an efficient and effective fat harvesting or re-injection tool. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide structure which satisfies the above need. This object and others are accomplished in accordance with the invention described hereafter.